Convicted human trafficker sentenced to 448 years in Colorado prison
A Denver judge handed down one of the longest prison sentences given to a convicted human trafficker in the U.S. on Thursday. Robert Hawkins was convicted on 18 charges, including three counts of human trafficking sexual servitude of an adult, one count of human trafficking sexual servitude of a minor, four counts of pimping of an adult, one count of pimping of a child in March.
Hawkins was sentenced to 448 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
One of Hawkins' victims told CBS News Colorado following the sentencing, "I'm relieved. I'm happy. I'm trying to overcome the fear and trauma."
"I will never overcome it. It feels good just to actually know that I got a monster, a predator… somebody so evil off the streets by just coming forward," said one of Hawkins' victims.
Juror number 8 said the jury took the case very seriously and that they realized, "What you're doing is impacting so many lives, and so it was taken with a lot of responsibility. It was traumatizing at times. I'm not going to lie."
She said, "We didn't realize it was such a historic case."